A Central Valley conundrum

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, January 7, 2007

Photo: Todd Trumbull

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Clarksburg. Chronicle Graphic

Clarksburg. Chronicle Graphic

Photo: Todd Trumbull

A Central Valley conundrum

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CLARKSBURG, Calif., is an unincorporated slice of Yolo County on the Sacramento River. Unless you live there -- and chances are you don't, because Clarksburg is proud of the fact that many of its 300 residents are the descendants of the 1930s families who settled the town -- it's easy to miss. It's easy to miss even though it's just 15 miles south of Sacramento, with most commuters now opting for the speedy Highway 5, rather than the scenic Highway 160.

But Clarksburg's size hasn't prevented it from presenting a historic challenge to California. That's because Clarksburg wants to grow. In the first case of its kind, this tiny community is urging the state Delta Protection Commission to allow a developer to build homes and infrastructure in a former industrial zone at high risk for flooding. The outcome of their case -- scheduled to be heard this month -- could represent the future of California's flood policy, land-use policy and even the future of the vulnerable delta.

"This appears to be the first real test of the Delta Protection Act," said Greg Loarie, an attorney for the nonprofit legal firm Earthjustice, which is challenging the development on behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "And it's huge, because it could set a real precedent for urban-type development encroaching into an area that's really critical for agriculture and flood control."

For years, developers have sought to build in the fertile delta, which contains not only crucial bird habitat and the drinking water for millions of Bay Area and Southern California residents, but also -- thanks to its proximity to two mercurial rivers -- the likely possibility of catastrophic floods. The 1992 Delta Protection Act set aside about 500,000 acres of "primary zone" to be protected from non-agricultural use, and set up a Delta Protection Commission. The commission monitors land-use decisions in the primary zone and can, upon appeal, enforce alterations to development plans. The act was an attempt to protect not only the delta, but taxpayers, who often wind up footing the bill when serious floods destroy homes and communities.

The entire community of Clarksburg lies within the primary zone. The community's levees have not yet gotten 100-year flood protection certification from the reclamation board. The 100-year standard, which says a community is protected from flood events that have a 1 percent chance in any given year, looks flimsy post-Katrina anyway. Any sensible person would say that the idea of building 162 new homes and all the fixings on a parcel with these problems is crazy -- crazy for Clarksburg, crazy for California.

But for some Clarksburg residents, it would be crazy not to try. The development project will bring the community a neighborhood park, a fire station, a community pool, public parking and a $10,000 cash contribution to the local library. Those 162 new homes may also -- hopefully -- mean families to fill them. None of these things, so small to Bay Area residents, can be taken for granted in a town of 300 people, a town that saw its major landmark -- the Old Sugar Mill, a beet-processing plant -- close in 1993.

It's easy to say that no one should build in Clarksburg because it's risky for the people who live there and costly for those of us who don't live there. But how do you say that a small community -- with few growth options -- should shrivel up and die?

Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, has tried to maneuver around this question by writing a letter to the commission with a list of further suggestions before Clarksburg goes forward with development: 100-year flood certification, shared state and local responsibility in the case of flooding, etc. Politically, this may be the only solution for the commission. But providing long-term safety for both homeowners and the delta is going to require tough choices. It might mean that communities such as Clarksburg just can't grow.